Locomotive storage tank arrangement



t. 3, 1939. R. G.` ANDERSON 2,175,010

, LOCOMOTIVE STORAGE TANK ARRANGEMENT Filed May l1, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet1 inventor" z QOber-t G. Andersom Hisv Attorney.

oct. 3, 1939. G, ANDERSN 2,175,010

Loou'o'uvn STORAGE TANK ARRANGEHENT Filed May 11, 1938 2 sheets-sheet 2y my FWS. 5.

lrve-VCOT". Robert. G. Anderson,

ls Attorney.

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE vLOCOMOTIVE STORAGETANK ARRANGE- M'ENT York Application May 11, 1938, Serial No. 207,290

4 Claims.

This invention relates to locomotive vehicles and more particularly toarrangements of liquid storage reservoirs in locomotives of theselfcontained type.

In railway locomotives of the high speed type, it is desirable tomaintain a minimum overall length and to eliminate the usual auxiliarytender for carrying the fuel and water supply by mounting the reservoirstherefor upon the same carriage with the power plant.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improvedarrangement of liquid storage reservoirs in the forepart of thelocomotive vehicle.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improvedarrangement for mounting a plurality of liquid storage reservoirs in alocomotive vehicle so as to minimize the transmission of rupturingstresses thereto from the vehicle framework.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedarrangement of liquid storage reservoirs in a compartment of thelocomotive vehicle providing a passageway extending therethroughlongitudinally of the vehicle.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in the specification asthe description proceeds while still others will be obvious from thedisclosure.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention,attention is directed to the following description and the claimsappended thereto taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion ofa railway locomotive vehicle which is provided with an arrangement ofliquid storage reservoirs according to my invention, Fig. 2 is a planview of the arrangement shown in Fig. l, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 aredetail views of the tank retaining means.

Referring to the drawings, I0 is the locomotive enclosing housingmounted upon an undercarriage II. A liquid storage compartment I2 isprovided in the forepart of the housing immediately to the rear of whichis the control con1- partment I 3 followed by the power plantcompartment I4 extending toward the rear of the locomotive.

In the operation of the locomotive over the more or less uneven railroadbeds, the framework of the vehicle is subjected to considerable warpingand twisting movements. To minimize the danger of such movements of thelocomotive framework causing rupturing of the seams of the liquidstorage tanks, I prefer to distribute the storage capacity in aplurality of relatively smaller, and hence, inherently stronger, indi'-vidual tanks. As shown, I provide a pair of main tanks I5 and I6disposed along the opposite side walls of the compartment and, forreasons of space economy, extending substantially from the floor to theroof of the compartment. The pair of tanks ar-e spaced apart by a thirdintermediate tank Il which is of a relatively low height which providesabove it, and between the pair of tanks, a passageway extending from thecontrol compartment I3 to a door IB provided in the front portion of thevehicle housing. The desirability of such a passageway is obvious,particularly in switching operations and, in the event that thelocomotive is being used as a pusher, to facilitate passage of trainmenbetween the locomotive and the other cars of the train.

It will be noted that the roof of the vehicle housing or hood over theforward liquid storage compartment is materially lower than the roofover the control compartment providing an offset portion in which awindow I9 may be placed. Thus, a wide angle of unobstructed visibilityis afforded the operators seated at the control panel 2t. Depending uponthe overall height of the locomotive, the floor 2| of the controlcompartment i's elevated above the oor of the vehicle a considerableamount creating a space which may be economically utilized by locatingadditional storage tanks 23 and 24 on opposite sides of the extendedintermediate tank I'I.

'I'he storage tanks may be filled from tower spouts through coveredopenings 25 in the tops of the main tanks or through pipe connections 2Eextending through th-e bottoms of the main tanks I5 and I3,respectively, which pipes terminate in an upper region of the tanks, acheck valve 28 being provided near the ends thereof for precludingspilling of liquid therefrom when the locomotive is in operation. By anarrangement of exibl'e interconnections 23 communicating through thebottoms of the various tanks, liquid passed into either one of the maintanks will distribute through the remainder to lll completely the lowertanks and maintain equal levels in the main tanks. Theintercommunicating connections 29 are also connected to a sump tank 3-0disposed beneath the oor of the vehicle and between transverse framemembers 35. The liquid is supplied to the locomotive power plant fromthe sump tank through the connection 32. A exible connection 33 isprovided for venting the intermediate tank I'l' into an adjacent tank 24which in turn is vented by connection 34 to one of the main tanks I6.The tank 23 is vented into the tank I by means of connection 35. Themain tanks I5 and I6 are vented through suitably arranged overflow pipes36 tnd 31, respectively, which extend from a point in the upper regionof the tanks downwardly through the bottoms thereof to atmosphere.

It is preferred not to rigidly secure the various tanks in position inthe vehicle but rather to cradle them by an arrangement ofsemi-resilient spacers of any suitable material such as wood. Asindicated, suitable wooden strips 38 may be placed between the bottom ofthe various tanks and the floor 22 of the vehicle. Wooden spacers 39 arealso placed between the various tanks to prevent metallic contactbetween them. With the tanks thus more or less cradled on woodensupports, limited relative shifting movements may take place between thetanks and the vehicle framework and the transmission of warpingmovements from the framework to the tanks is further minimized. Forlimiting the shifting movements of the various tanks, I provideretaining devices 40 at the forward ends of the main tanks I5 and I6 andalso at the rear of the tanks 23 and 24, respectively. These devices areshown more clearlyin detail in Fig. 3. The device comprises a length ofangle iron 4I to which are welded a plurality of vertically arrangedplates 42 extending somewhat above the angle side. A bar 43 is weldedacross the top of the plates 42 in a slightly overhanging manner asshown, so as to extend above a lug 44. The lug may comprise a bar ofsuitable size and shape welded to the side wall of the tank I6 in such amanner that it will extend between the top of the angle piece 4I and theoverhanging edge of the bar 43 and in spaced relationship theretosubstantially as shown. A wooden spacer 45 is secured to the angle sideas by screws 46 to prevent metallic contact between the retaining deviceand the tank. The retaining device may be removably secured to the iioorof the locomotive vehicle as by bolts 4'I. By the arrangement shown, itis seen that limited relative shifting movements between the tank andthe vehicle oor may take place, excessive vertical movements of thetanks, however, being precluded by the engagement of the lug 44 with theedge of the overhanging bar 43. A similar retaining arrangement, used inconnection with the smaller intermediate tank I'I, is shown in detail inFig. 4. 'I'his arrangement may comprise a bar 49 and a spacer block 59secured to the floor by means of bolts 5I. An overhanging edge of thebar 49 extends' above a lug 52 secured to the lower portion of the tankI'I and in spaced relationship thereto, to limit vertical movement ofthe tank. Excessive sidewise shifting of the storage reservoirs may beprecluded by means of brackets 53 shown in detail in Fig. 5. Thesebrackets may comprise angle sections 54 secured to the floor 22, as bywelding, at spaced intervals adjacent the outer sides of the tanks. Thevertical portion of the angle piece may be faced with a wooden spacerblock 55 secured thereto by screws 56 to prevent metallic contact4between the tank and the bracket. It will be noted that while thevertical movements of the forward ends of the main tanks I5 and I6 areprecluded by means of the retaining devices 46, space requirements maynot allow the use of such devices at the opposite ends of these tanks.In the present instance I provide wooden spacer blocks 51 arrangedbetween a channel frame section 58 and the top of the tanks. In asimilar manner spacer blocks 59 may be provided between the forward endsof the smaller tanks 23 and 24 and the transverse member 60.

Although either fuel oil or water may be stored in the system ofinterconnected reservoir tanks, it is obvious that some may be used forstoring water and others for storing fuel oil as desired, making suchchanges in the flexible interconnections as are necessary, I prefer,however, to store only water in the tanks located in the forwardcompartment as a safety measure, and to store the fuel in tanks locatedsimilarly, for example, in lthe rear end of the locomotive. Thus in theevent of a collision, causing the bursting of the tanks, the possibilityof a resulting fire is minlmiZed.

A still further advantage in the arrangement shown is in the fact thatthe hood over the liquid storage compartment may be easily removedrendering the various tanks accessible for rapid replacement or repair.

Among the numerous advantages of the arrangement disclosed is that whilethe locomotive operators have practically an unlimited and unobstructedvision ahead, the control compartment is located a safe distance fromthe front of the vehicle. In the event of a collision occurring as theresult of an obstruction on the right of way, the relatively flexibletanks act as a buffer between the nose of the vehicle and the controlcompartment. Also, with the power plant compartment located toward therear the temperature in the control compartment can be easily regulatedto a iine degree by a system of adjustable louvers suitably located inthe outer walls of the compartment. Gases, fumes or escaping steam canalso be easily precluded from rendering the control compartmentuncomfortable for the operators, since these will be carried rearwardlyby the natural circulation of air through the vehicle.

Having described my invention in what I now consider to represent thebest embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that thespecific arrangement shown is only illustrative and that it is subjectto further obvious modifications falling within the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. A railway locomotive vehicle having an enclosing housing, a waterstorage compartment in the forepart of Said housing, a plurality ofwater storage tanks in said compartment including a pair of longitudinaltanks arranged along opposite side walls of said housing and extendingsubstantially from the iioor to the roof of said housing, meansincluding a third water storage tank of relatively lower height forspacing said pair vapart and providing a passageway through saidcompartment, means resiliently separating said tanks from said housingand from each other, flexible conduits connecting the lower portions ofsaid tanks allowing equalization of water level in said plurality oftanks, and means interconnecting said tanks for venting same toatmosphere.

2. A railway locomotive vehicle having a water consuming power plant, anenclosing housing for said vehicle, a water storage compartment in theforepart of said housing, a pair of longitudinal water storage tanksarranged along opposite side walls of said compartment, a third waterstorage tank of relatively lower height for spacing said pair apart andproviding a passageway between said pair, means resiliently separatingsaid tanks from said housing and from each other, removable meansloosely retaining said tanks in position so as to permit limitedshifting movements of the individual tanks, and a portion of saidhousing over said water storage compartment being removable so as toallow removal of any of said tanks.

3. In a railway locomotive vehicle having an enclosing housing, a liquidstorage compartment in the forepart of said housing, a pair of liquidstorage tanks in said compartment arranged along opposite side walls ofsaid housing, means for loosely retaining said tanks in positionallowing limited relative shifting movements between said tanks and saidvehicle, means for spacing said pair of tanks apart providing apassageway through said compartment and flexible connections between thelower portions of said tanks for maintaining an equal distribution ofliquid in said tanks.

4. In a railway locomotive vehicle, a housing on said vehicle, a pair ofliquid storage tanks arranged along opposite side walls of said housingin the forepart thereof, removable means for loosely retaining saidtanks in a spaced apart relationship, relatively ilexible conduitsconnecting the lower portions or" said tanks for allowing equalizationof liquid level in said tanks, and means for venting said tanks toatmosphere.

ROBERT G. ANDERSON.

